John-Paul Sarni is the founder of Italian Pacific, a production and management company based in Los Angeles and Europe. The company has projects in development with studios and producers in Australia, Canada, France, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Sweden, The United Kingdom and The United States. As part of the slate, he serves as host and producer of the podcast, Page & Screen with John-Paul Sarni which is now in its third season and highlights new books with ties to film, television, and theatre.

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He previously was EVP, Head of International Content + IP Acquisitions at Stampede Ventures.  In that post, he curated and looked after a development slate including a first-look deal with CBS Studios’ international division, a joint venture with Australia’s KOJO Studios (The Alliance), and projects across 15+ countries. He served as Executive Producer on the comedy series, GOLD DIGGERS for Australia’s ABC/CBS Studios (AACTA Nominee for Best Comedy Series), and THE DARKNESS for Iceland’s Síminn/CBS Studios from director Lasse Hallström.
 
He began in development at HBO Films before moving on to aid+abet as an executive working on such films as PARIAH (Sundance 2011) and UNA NOCHE (Berlinale 2012).  As VP of Development & Literary Acquisitions at Sonar Entertainment, he oversaw an extensive slate of series, miniseries and feature films produced and acquired for the international market.
 
At Laurence Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions, he served as Head of Development and Current, developing new properties for the company, including their award-winning ABC series, BLACK-ISH as well as Emmy winner, SNOWY DAY for Amazon. 

Originally from Andover, Massachusetts, he lives between Italy and California.  He is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.